


The Correspondence

by DemelzaLalondrelle



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 02:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3673596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemelzaLalondrelle/pseuds/DemelzaLalondrelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of dismissing Hans' suit out of hand on the night of the Coronation ball, Elsa agrees to allow him to stay in the castle to get to know Anna better and pursue his courtship under her eye.  Arendelle shimmers under a heatwave, and Hans starts to settle in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Summer of Our Discontent

Entry 1 - from the Private Journals of HM Queen Elsa of Arendelle:

18th June 18--

They have been here ten days - oh God! it is unsupportable! I cannot take a step in my own home without encountering them. And every time I do catch sight of them the remembrance of the moment Anna introduced us jolts me half way to casting up the entire contents of my stomach on my shoes. It wouldn’t be such a loss. I detest my shoes; frumpy and dark with this horrible traditional embroidery, and a heel as flat as my life. 

To see constantly unwinding before my eyes the enactment of all I can never have, or be, minute by minute; it is agony. It is cruel to my poor sister to grudge her his company - but I do; I grudge every look that takes her away from me. And I cannot like him. He has settled in far too easily; so politely particular in his attentions to her, so amenable to everything and ready to be pleased by all. These are good qualities; why, then, do I so mistrust him? I cannot tell.

But oh! their ubiquity. The gates remain open, and he rides out with Anna nearly every day - her passion for novelty is boundless, and he indulges it. I see them go off into the mountains - chaperoned, of course - and then when they return I find them wherever I walk; they are curled into cushioned alcoves like a pair of cats in a cabbage patch, or he is leggily stretched out in luxurious idleness with her in the gallery, discussing with her some detail of some tedious painting. He seems to take up an inordinate amount of room, even in a palace, where one might suppose there would be space even for somebody so excessively lanky.

The weather is stiflingly hot - I have never been so uncomfortably overwarm … I wish there might be a break in this oppressive heat...

Now that I have come desperately close to the brink of exposure and disaster, and at Anna's hands, I cannot help but dwell on the danger I keep us all in, myself not least; what might not ensue, should my people ever realise - so it is sensible, in fact, for Anna to be safe, because if I hurt Anna - again - that would be what I could never forgive myself - I would not survive my guilt - and in any case, I believe I should sacrifice myself before I let myself hurt her again. I feel such terrifying despair. The world would be better if I were dead, and yet I am forbidden even that cruellest peace by the church. If I ever feel even the stirrings of such feelings again, I believe I must flee before I let myself fully feel them; it is too dangerous, to others than myself.

And he, with his hearty laugh and his monopoly of her, reminds me constantly of those feelings, so perchance that is why I strive so hard to avoid him - and Anna - as much as possible. I am serving a life sentence; I grit my teeth and pray for the time to pass quickly.

Anna must be gone and leave me, so I may mourn her loss and begin my real life while she may be safe. Perhaps I should have given my permission immediately. I am so bitterly jealous. He has everything I never can. I cannot ride out with Anna, I can’t sit with her in the library - he was showing her where he has sailed, on the Atlas. They have had so much already - and I have had only this - this tidy life of emptiness and duty. I can never have a lover, just as I have never been able to have Anna with me, at all, ever, and it does not make it better to think that somebody else can - and will. It makes it a vast deal more painful. Anna has someone - bad enough, for I do not and never can have; but worse, someone will have Anna.

I must not be desperate; I must put my feelings into order, and use them to lace more steel into my spine; I will pull myself together; I will hold.

 

Letter 2 - HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles to Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

19th June 18--

My Dear Countess 

I am delighted to hear of your triumph in Vienna, certain though I felt of it; it is a city of culture and taste, after all. They could not be so ignorant of the worth of your talent as to do other than celebrate you.

My triumph here is - not quite as absolute, as you may have heard. The Queen has remained withdrawn and impervious - so far, at least; and I have been forced to satisfy myself with the little princess. I find her absolutely adorable, as everybody must, and am now so bored by her artless simplicity that I must persuade her to let me go in the very next few weeks, as early as can be contrived, before I lie down in the very comfortable bed in my suite and feel too overcome at the prospect of another hour with her ever to get up from it.

You will recall that this was not my original plan, but the truth is there are reasons associated with _that _, that would make it inconvenient for several reasons. You know the risks of exposure, that would surely have to be run; the further the secret spreads, the greater the danger, and I am in a foreign land, with limited resources, and would be forced to depend on both the capabilities and discretion of men I would hardly know. I estimate the risk as too great.__

The night of the coronation, that seemed to crown all my efforts with the success they merited, has shown itself by daylight a hollow success. I never lie to you, dear Countess, so I acknowledge that I was thrilled with the little princess. She was so delightfully easy, although that very easiness, of course, did alarm one a little in a prospective wife; we discussed - delicious! - the horrors of my brothers and her sister - as if one sister could compare to the vileness of my upbringing with those animals - and she confided her longing for companionship so prettily, and I had drunk champagne so adequately, and the setting she had brought us to looked so intoxicatingly - in short, I was quite infatuated with her, throughout the tense negotiations that allowed me to remain here as a suitor, and as far as kissing her hand oh-so-very-properly at the ballroom door, and until we met again in the forenoon of the next day. She is still pretty, and eager, and the full extent of our common ground has been gone over - several times. All our further conversation has revolved around the same topics, explored with far more eagerness by Anna than by myself, although I play the part of enthused suitor rather beautifully. Well, _you _know. My never-to-be-bride spends every second she can with me; she is like a pretty little fluffy ginger rabbit, hopping about with her happy bunny feelings, chirruping about them all the time that she isn’t sadly explaining how they were hurt by her sister's distance, which, having told her in a deep and sincere voice that I would never ever imitate, I can only long to copy to the point of obsession.__

And here is the second reason why I do not adhere to my original plan; the Queen herself. She is quite the different proposition; she seethes and smoulders behind her bland exterior like the very devil she stole her eyebrows from. Have you seen the pictures? They don’t do those eyebrows justice. They alter the whole cast of her countenance to something quite enchantingly wicked. She is not as beautiful as people had me believe; she is what a pretty girl might look like if designed from description by somebody who had not actually seen one. Everything is a little too emphatic. Her eyes are too big, her lips are thin and mobile - her teeth - well, I will allow her teeth to be perfectly acceptable. I dare say she has had them fixed. That mane of hair is far too impressive to be natural, which pleases me, as no woman so certain of her allure as to make a no effort at improvement can possibly be trusted. It means her real hair is a sad straw wig of rats' tails, to be sure ... Worse than all the above, however, is her sickly emaciation. She needs a good deal more krumkake in her diet if she is to please universally. Small waists may be fashionable, but health is more important, particularly in a woman whose next decade should be spent breeding princes. 

I tell you, ma chere, there is something about that young woman that is plainly and deeply wrong and it piques my interest. 

Yesterday I was sitting close to my undeclared fiancee, describing my voyage to Arendelle - enlivened with glowingly romantic descriptions of seascapes and encounters with dolphins - with the assistance of the Atlas, when a chance noise alerted me to the presence of another; and I looked up to encounter the Queen’s eyes on us like an angry cat’s, limpid with malevolence, until a moment after she met my eye and - in the time it takes a finger to twitch, an eyelash to flutter - the look had vanished, painted over with bland goodwill and her faint, unconvincing smile. But I saw it, Harriette, and I read it, as plainly as a herringbone sky at sunset.

I am aware that there must exist women who would never like me, but surely their lives must be an empty desert of featureless tedium and an intolerable burden to them, and I cannot for a moment imagine the Queen might be of their number. Nobody whose fury burns with the intense, soul-coruscating heat that I saw in her eyes is unreachable by passion. Indeed, to judge from that look, it is already consuming her; and it is only my task to set it to work in a more constructive direction.

I long to see you again, dearest; when can the triumphs of Rome and Vienna spare you? Or must I come to you again? You know I will never resist, in the end, such is your power over me.

With all my respect and heartfelt wishes for - your good fortune to continue, even at this exorbitant price of separation to myself - ever your own 

Hans W


	2. To the World

3\. - Note: - draft? - scrawled in HM Elsa of Arendelle’s journal

Anna - perhaps he is worthy of you. He seems to wish to be. I never wanted to let you go, but you are halfway gone already. Let him take you, with my blessing. Elsa R.

 

4\. - HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles to Harriette von Hohenlohe, Countess of --------

20th June 184-

My Dearest Countess

Why do I still not hear from you? I am starved by your absence; let me endure no further deprivation! I look every day for the mercy of your handwriting on an envelope, and every day for three days my heart has been weighted by its lack. The worst is silence; the cruellest letter you could write would at least be a sign you think of me!

I am forcing myself not to come to you. I beg you for a word at least; a line to reassure me that none of the ills a lover must always fear for his love are not come true.

To take my mind off you, I continue the game here; in one way, fortune has played straight into my hands. In another, it has flown in the face of all my most cherished hopes; but of course, I am accustomed to this, and you will be unsurprised to hear that I believe I have bested malevolent fate yet again. The princess is to be my bride - and yet, you may be quite sure, she never shall. I shall not sport with your confusion any longer - Harriette, how I love to imagine you looking confused! Because I am so certain you simply look vexed, and I love you in that mood better than in - oh, several others, I think.

I dare swear you die for me to come to the point by now, so I shall inform you - I have the sovereign’s permission - nay, her blessing - for my union with the little ginger rabbit. 

It is the consequence of my having broken through the ridiculous barriers erected by this delicate rose of tempered steel. I lingered after breakfast - to propose that Anna do some work. She is the most irresponsible person. The Queen runs the realm, while the Princess runs about after butterflies and other trifling amusements. Having never been obliged to take a role, she shows no sign of carving out any for herself, happy merely to enjoy the many benefits conferred by her position, and permanently preoccupied with establishing a coterie to minister to her emotional self-involvement.

No more. I have put her thoughts in the direction of charity, and she begins with a committee to help seasonal workers. Under my careful guidance, she has formed a committee which shows her to the people and where she learns a little about the country she is so extremely unfit to rule. This was the scheme I put to the Queen - rather more sweetly. I spoke eloquently of the happiness Anna’s generosity of spirit must find in her exertions to promote the year-round welfare of workers such as ice cutters. And the response from the cold and basilisk eyed Queen to this - ? Her expression came all alive - still modest, still quiet and discreet, but alight with happiness - and - “Oh! it is what I have wished for so long! It is such a useful idea, and to take care of our people, to be the Princess they must long for! I am glad, very glad, that she has thought of it, and that you have brought the idea to me.”

I explained: “The Princess has such kindness in her, as well as the flow of her spirits. Every action she undertakes seems charitable in the joy she conveys. So this will surely add to her sources of pleasure, and put her happiness on a solid foundation for her long life to come.”

Like this - wholly through an irritation of feelings with my supposed beloved - I discovered the Queen’s absolute favourite topic. Her sisterly devotion is charming. It puts her features in a glow of fondness, softens her eyes, and she turned them on me with an expression so sparkling and withal so tender that if my heart were unengaged and the look had been directed at me, I can’t swear I wouldn’t have melted. Even not directed at me, it showed her capable of a real and profound affection for her sister, which encourages me. I may not be able to really feel love for her, but if I can persuade her to feel it for me, its counterfeit will be that much easier. And who does not like to be adored?

She continued on, praising Princess Anna’s talents, and expressing “what fulfilment she will find in using them in such a cause! Her vitality! and her sweetness of character! She has so much good in her, and I am so pleased she will share it!”

And somehow before she was done, she had offered me her hand and made the offer of her goodwill to what I no longer want. I feigned all the stupidity of joy, but also suggested that we delay the announcement of it - not least to Anna herself, in order that she may “know her own heart”. (I do not credit Anna with knowing so little of her heart as she does various other parts of herself, as I feel sure will appear.)

Tears were in Her Majesty’s eyes as she gave her blessing, tears of joy (I was supposed to believe!) that a man worthy of her dear sister had been possible to find in this world of sin - although I deeply hope that her feelings were far more those of frustration that she has not found such a man for herself; she should not weep; I will comfort her soon enough. And the strangest discovery is this deep feeling for her sister. The sister she shuns and will go to any lengths to avoid encountering, the sister who longs for her above all else - my dear, I verily believe the two of them would be happier with each other than either can ever be with me, or any other man, would they ever speak to one another. I must go to all lengths to prevent that happening!

I charge you upon your care for my life, to write; a line will suffice me. My love always.

Your own 

Hans

 

5\. - Harriette von Hohenlohe, Countess of --------, to HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles

22nd June 184-

Cher Ami

I thank you for your letters; but I do not believe your lover-like sighs and expostulations; I think what a bore it must be for you, marooned as you are in a backwater of taste and culture, with only the princess and the queen to keep you awake, and that this makes you think more fondly on myself.

The delay in response is due to a strange little Duke - from your part of the world, I believe - I have had quite a little adventure, and as I know how you love to hear of my conquests, I wanted to wait until the whole should be concluded - which in some wise it presently is. 

I encountered this most unusual minuscule Duke, with the outward aspect very much of a cockerel, notwithstanding a walrus moustache of incomparable magnificence, after my concert in the salon of the Princess Esterhazy. As I told you, I am very much the toast of the ton at the moment, and the whole of our rencontre took place under the eyes of the entire world, so I assumed myself quite safe. I underestimated the moustachioed homunculus. He found me before supper and insisted on taking me in, he complimented my singing, and then - fixing his monocle, the better to scrutinize it - congratulated me on my loveliness, which, he explained, had drawn the attention of someone quite out of any sphere I could ever hope to raise my eyes to - in short, to his short self. I nearly laughed in his face, but sure that would be impolitic - and perhaps impolite, though not belonging to the same sphere, perhaps I do not really know - at any rate, I decided it would be, and you know, cheri, it is not so disagreeable to be told that you are ravishing, even if it is couched in the most unflattering terms.

He proceeded with rather cavalier rapidity to assume that I would be delighted to dine with him in his rooms at the soonest chance, but since I had another engagement, I was happily able to decline, and expected that to be the end of it; I should have known better of the persistence of a man equal to growing such luxuriant moustaches. My fate was probably already sealed; he suggested another night, and I invited him to dine with me - but in a party where the most staid and proper of all the old cats whose acquaintance I have made would be in attendance, so my reputation would remain as untouched as myself. 

He sent rafts of hothouse flowers every day, and a very acceptable gift of jewellery (such a pretty trinket! Must be worth fifty pounds on the open market, quite easily) and I became inclined to be more accepting of his attentions. After all, he had quite properly indicated that to pay compliments to a beautiful widow should not be an economical undertaking, and that in itself shows a character which may be trusted at least a little. 

At all events, he came to the dinner, and I put myself about, you may be very sure, to obtain every information I could, and sure enough, being fifty if a day, and having done the grand tour in the years that one would expect, he has the good fortune to be already acquainted with some of my relations; to be exact - . Let us not be exact, my love. It would not have served my turn to be exact about dates, for example, so I took great care not to. (Although, it was horribly difficult to find the right people to bribe, here. I thought it would be like France or Italy, where since everybody is open to it, it becomes a species of duty. Here the business of bribing servants has to be undertaken in a very havey cavey manner, and I do not like it. It reminds me of my homeland far too much.)

After the dinner - exquisitely virtuous, amazingly dull - the guests all left, and I was able to persuade Celeste (because she is my own servant, and so does as I ask) to indicate discreetly the door by which he might enter should his designs be dishonourable, which happily proved to be the case; he has the virtues one might expect as a lover, paying off in enthusiasm what he can’t make up in skill, and a sprightliness one would hardly credit in a man of his age. I surrendered my virtue as prettily as ever I have done before, and he had brought me another trinket, which could not fail to please, but - oh I don’t know how, the conversation turned to my dear Mama, and I indicated her picture, placed upon the dressing table by my bed, and I confess, the expression on his face was a pearl without price. Cheri, I could see him calculating, within a moment, the exact calculations I had so carefully prepared, right behind the monocle he’d been ogling Mama with. I tried mightily hard to look just as perfectly like him as I could, to underline the suggestion, but unfortunately I was not able to grow either a monocle or a moustache in the short time available. He knew what must be obvious to the least intelligent; I looked as ingenuous as I was able, wept aloud at the notion of what I had so unwittingly done, and the long and short of it is, that he can hardly declare himself my lover now he thinks me his daughter. Even better, he has made me a little pension, to keep my filial thoughts to myself. 

Mama, on this occasion, was one Louise de la Tour, though which one I have no idea; I have packed her portrait most carefully against any further encounters with my new cher papa. 

Of course, I do not know whether this may yet undo me, and I may have to leave in haste, but I hope he won’t investigate too closely. It may not hold up entirely well under scrutiny; so few of these fairy Godmothers seem to. Should my modest success endure a little, I shall be at one of the Spa towns, I think; I cannot get all the way to Arendelle to watch you woo other women, my love. It would wound me and slow you down.

With all the tenderness I can command

Hetty


	3. Spotted Tongue

6\. Letter from HRH Princess Anna of Arendelle to HRH Princess Rapunzel of Corona  
24th June 184-

Dear Coz

I write this praying you and your family are all well. We have had reports that the city of Corona is afflicted with an outbreak of some scrofulous disease. If so, I earnestly pray that you have not contracted them - surely the palace is in quarantine? - or that you all recover and are quite unaffected by them in the rest of your life; one hears frightening things about symptoms reverting after long intervals - I am sure you are bearing it all with great fortitude, but I wish you will know I think of you and I send my very best wishes. 

My lot is very different; in such a short time, my life has changed to - what I have always wanted! I feel vastly guilty when I think on what you must face, as I never had such enjoyment and diversions before - I am giddy with it! Prince Hans is so dashing and so very good looking - I’m overcome when I look at him and think that I will be his wife! And all this while I know you are at least very anxious, and perhaps ill. But you asked I should write to you, and I do not want to shut you out of my happiness, any more than I wish you to be oppressed by it in your difficulty, so I am writing that you may feel some share in my happiness when you are able to feel it … The Prince joins me in wishing all that is kind and sincere. He is very, very kind, which makes me feel sure it is a very good idea to be married to him. He takes me about everywhere; and I am content just to be near him, but we talk and talk and talk and he laughs at me - so gently, as if the way I make him laugh is the best thing I could do. I truly think I feel - very deeply loving towards him.

He has a serious side, too; he says I should be doing some charitable work, and so I am, and it is really proper, serious work, not just embroidering traditional flowers and selling it for somebody to make into a cushion. (Papa said he actually saw one of mine used as a cushion cover in a dignitary’s house. Elsa’s was framed on the wall. I do wish I had half Elsa’s talents, but I also am content to be a poor hand at embroidery. I don’t see the use of it. Except for Elsa. Especially for Elsa.)

Today we held an inaugural first meeting to begin everything, and I felt some alarm at adopting such a part, but then I realised it is my duty to do it, so I tried to think how Elsa would be and I selected a dark turquoise dress with traditional embroidery to show how I was a Princess of the people. I was very regal and sophisticated until the first speaker completed his opening address, and I was nodding very solemnly to show I agreed with him, or at least that I was listening to what he said very seriously. It came to very little, as I was so busy trying to look like I knew a deal better than I truly did that I completely neglected to concentrate on what he was indeed saying, and then he had stopped speaking and he was looking at me and there was a terrific pause, as there might be at a funeral.

Prince Hans spoke for me. He assured the Councillor that all he requested would receive our most dedicated consideration and that Councillor looked at me with an expression which plainly said that that would make a splendid change. I smiled upon him, not to look insincere, but to show that I really mean to, and that I want to make things better. It is just so vast an exertion, trying to maintain a regal deportment, it takes so much concentration and I had none left for what was important. I decided not to try to look regal anymore, so then I just listened and I wanted to change everything, right away, but Hans says we can’t just do things without thinking them through, so we have to do that, next.

They were a strange selection of people, of course, because they all came from different employments; the fishermen all looked tanned and sort of toughened up, as they had been daily saddle soaped for ten years, and they were quite, quite short; the timbermen were grubby and rather larger; and the ice-workers were frankly Titanic. They clearly have Jotun blood; one of them was so huge - well, the palace doors didn’t look too big for him, which they generally do for anybody. You could fit ninety of you and me through them; he looked like he himself, all alone, was just right. He was a very poor specimen of the working man in other respects, however, for he was shockingly underbred, and I was obliged to put him down most quellingly. He said he would listen to what I had to say after the Guild Master had completed his speech, as if there would have been the slightest point in anybody being there were I not there to listen and speak. I am sure they all talk of these dull matters all the time, but seldom are granted audiences with Royalty. So if I had interrupted a little - and to tell the truth, I had, a little - well, it was what Hans called a point of order, and it was as important as anything else. 

I told the Sami that I was to be in charge of matters by reason of my political sway, rather than he, because of his physical strength. I did not throw anything at him. The ink was tipped into his lap because I made a sweeping and Royal gesture to impress him with my authority, and Prince Hans immediately arranged for him to be outfitted afresh, so it was an improvement for all. Those mountain garments look strangely in a castle. He had on some kind of hat, indoors, which was quite unusual …. the committee is to reconvene next week to hear my thoughts. It is not very agreeable, as it seems my thoughts must be enhanced with reading reports. Elsa is delighted; perhaps she may read some for me and give me the substance of them, for I do not feel equally greatly gratified at the prospect.

You know, you should visit us; you would adore my husband to be, and how much I am improved by him, and I long to see the twins. You know how I adore children. 

All my love 

Anna

 

7\. From the private journals of HM Queen Elsa of Arendelle  
24th June 184-

Anna’s first meeting of the Royal Committee for Seasonal Work was all smoothly despatched, and I am learning to like the prince a little better. He shows gentleness and consideration - not only to Anna, whom he worships openly, but also to myself, whose welfare is nothing to him - and yet, today, when we went to the gardens, he was all attention to myself, as well, where nothing further - my consent and blessing given - can be gained. Seeing my discomfort at the heat - oh! it is exhausting; if I were in my rooms, I could be cooler, but I dare not use any - unorthodoxy - where there are others present, for more than one reason… So I sat on the verandah, my body so overheated, even in the coolest linen, how hot I was exhibited clearly on every inch of my skin, flushed and glowing, as Mama would say, meaning repulsively damp - oh such a repellent object! I must have looked as hideously uncomfortable as I felt, for then - quite suddenly - I felt his eyes on me, looked up to see him frowning and a glass of lemonade was procured for me, and a fan - ! - that he made himself out of a sheet of drawing paper - he drew a lily on it because he said they are so cool and have such dignity. He said Anna was a rose… I have urgent letters to write; but I still keep the fan by me. It is pleasant to cool my face with something so simple and - innocent of power - as I am at my escritoire.

 

8\. Letter from HM Elsa of Arendelle to HRH Princess Rapunzel of Corona.

24th June  
Dear Cousin

We have heard of your hardship; we and our people are praying for you.

I beg you will forgive my sister if her letter - which appears to run marvellous long - may appear insensitive, but she has known so much suffering, I shield her from more if I can, so the whole is not acknowledged to her. I dissemble even my own concern before her.

I have sent for the best of nurses and a Doctor whose specialism is this disease and the vaccinations against it; they are despatched by this, and I hope they may be of service.

Rapunzel, I wish you will obey your father’s wishes and move out of the city - even to the tower, if needs must - to avoid this time of sickness in the town. It is by far the safest method; especially with the twins so young. Whatever you decide I shall hope to hear well of you soon.

Yours ever

Elsa   
9\. Letter from HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles to Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

Adorable Countess

God, Harriette, you are so plainly set to destroy my peace of mind forever that I can only resist with all the power of laughter at my disposal. And truly, with such a weaselly little fellow! And to say I enjoy your adventures! Although of course, I cannot help but relish your tales of bedroom politics - strictly because nobody plays an ill hand better than yourself; I would I could have seen your little tableau, if only to examine whether Weselton’s moustaches themselves drooped at the horror of what he believed he had done!

And reproach you as I may, I do not care to; I am in little better case myself. Until I am wedded and bedded and a baby planted in the Royal womb of my Royal Eccentricity, I have as little power over my fate in matters of real weight as you have yourself. In this picture, we are both for sale, our only advantage that we may sell ourselves, and are at liberty to procure and retain the most tolerable buyer possible, on the most generous terms we can negotiate. I truly rejoice that Weselton has proven an open-handed purchaser of your favours, for his mania for business matters wouldn’t lead one to suppose it. At least you need have no more of his bedroom manners …

My own matters show more hopefully these last days, however; the Queen looks upon me with the kind of favour which only a complete innocent could imagine will lead no further. I have begun to flatter her with the kind of small attentions which are only permissible without drawing every eye reproachfully upon us because of our near-family status. They are the wordless confirmation of my engagement that my every action undermines. Anna was magnificent at the charity commission; I believe I have already selected the perfect parti for her. He is a huge bear of a man, with a great mop of unruly hair which would be fair, were he to wash it. Built like a pet of the fancy, with a nose which seems to have seen some punishment in that pursuit, but he is in fact an ice-cutter and haulier; seemingly such a trade makes for large and powerful men. Anna, of course, provoked him with her naivete, and I prompted her to respond in a regal manner. There was a glorious moment; the whole room simmered with anticipation, and the ice-cutting lug backed down, grumbling through only his expression. My little princess had never asserted herself with such energy, and I thought she might run mad with the excitement of it, flinging her arms about in a manner that caused mishap to the haulier’s trousers, but since they could not be made many shades dirtier by the ink she spilt over them, it was probably for the best.

I ordered him more clothes, for I misdoubt the little rabbit will seek to match her authority to the ice haulier again, and that she may match herself in some other ways, his appearance will benefit from a touch of town bronze. Yes, imagine that, Hetty, I shall have a mountainous clumsy protege whose preferred dress is that of mountain Sami. I shall have those boots removed by a surgeon if it proves necessary.

I long for you, Hetty; I lack any real companionship here. It is all sadly reminiscent of home - though I do not have to spar with my brothers in training; though I do propose a little of the practice here, for I fancy the Bjorgman (he is the ice haulier) will strip to advantage and show mighty well in the ring, which no doubt will give the Princess some more feelings she doesn’t recognise, suiting my purposes perfectly.

I shall spend the next hours striving not to think of you; I shall not look at your picture and I shall not picture you in the rooms here as I so often do, for from your last, I must suppose us separated until my business here is completed. The knowledge that I cannot hope to see you makes me long for you more than ever. 

All my love

H


	4. Mainly to Arendelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feverish Goings On Of One Sort and Another

10\. Letter from HRH Princess Rapunzel of Corona to HRH Princess Anna of Arendelle

Darling Anna

I am so happy for you!

You are absolutely right, of course; we have been obliged to leave the city - the twins are too small to be face with any contagion; we are already in quarantine at ________bard, and will be among you very soon. 

All my love

Rapunzel

 

11\. Letter from HRH Princess Rapunzel of Corona to HM Queen Elsa of Arendelle

My Dear Cousin

We accept your offered hospitality with gratitude; we remain in ___ bard just until we can be sure we have escaped contagion, then we will proceed to you for these immunisations with all speed. It is terrifying, and we must recruit all the help we can. I blame myself; my voracious reading has yet never taught me anything about disease! I was never ill, when I was a prisoner; yet liberty assaults me with coughs and colds and digestive disorders at every turn! I do not suffer because I continue possessed of the immunity of my power, but the twins! My heart breaks when they cry because they are snuffly and hot! And yet, this is what Eugene tells me is the ordinary way of life; that they are only a little indisposed, that the over heated irritation of a face stuffed behind itself with yellow discharges and the intense fever thereof is merely a little cold! Eugene is wiser, because he has seen it before, living in the orphanage; but even he fears for the babies a little when he hears of the extremities of this fever. 

You may have right on your side about the Prince of the Southern Isles. He has a very colourful reputation, according to Eugene. (Eugene hears the most shocking things. I do not know how unmarried ladies are supposed to hear or know anything, and I daresay they are not, and that this is why they are not told. It is ridiculous, for how should we protect ourselves - or our families - or our countries - if we are not to know whom to trust?) 

However, Eugene has an equally shocking name around Corona, and all that was fairly earned by his own earnest endeavours as a thief, and there is no gainsaying it. He has no need to be a thief, now, of course, but I truly believe he decided he would not, before that was strictly the case… the point I mean to make is that in the first place, a bad reputation does not always mean a bad man. People tell a lot of lies, it seems, and often I don’t fully understand their reasons. Perhaps they do not understand the truth, but I suspect many persons do not care to. It is easy to fall victim to slanders from people who are so peculiarly constituted. Secondly, people who have been shockingly bad can perfectly well be good on other occasions, and in different circumstances, sometimes because they change their minds, or because they have not had a chance to be better before. 

I hope that either the rumours about Prince Hans are simply the casual misrepresentations of people who like gossip better than they should, or that they are the kinds of petty misdemeanours that are only the indiscretions of youth. Who does not need to make mistakes?

You do well to be circumspect and I honour your good sense; although had I been more wise, I believe I should have been less happy. It is a conundrum.

Their nurse is bringing the twins in for their lesson. Until very soon, cherie.

Rapunzel

 

12\. Letter to HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles from Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

My Dear

Despite my continuing mistrust of your communications of despair, I will be at Arendelle almost by this; two different horrors - both of my own making, naturally - are upon me.

Firstly, as anybody in the whole of ------- could tell you, I have become, chiefly through the Duke’s disposition, which supposes forgiveness easier come by than permission, his allowed natural daughter. This is a lesson of some sort. If it were a lesson a little more intelligible I dare say I might learn from it, but surely no lesson is truly that one should despatch one’s lovers to Eternal Bliss - or damnation - to rein in what disaster they may wreak on you following any intimacy you permit. Wherever I go, I am no longer the beautiful and interesting widow with the divine voice, now I am the acknowledged bastard. It is infuriating, not least because I have gone to some lengths to get this, undeserved title; though less than I did to acquire the others.

Secondly, your steel flower Queen has sent for the Duke. Naturally I feel this no affair of mine, but it seems I am - again - quite mistaken; the Duke intends bringing me with him. He is deliriously proud of me. It is almost touching, in the most inconvenient way possible. I am to be brought to be shown off and put through my paces like a prize pony, in the hope that - I can only surmise - I may be married. As you know, I can never more be married after the perfect misery that was my first, and what lengths I may be driven to, to preserve myself from this horror, I have yet to determine. Again, I hope I may contrive something short of the Duke’s death. Perhaps I may do what is needful with the disbursement of his own monies to have his moustaches hacked back savagely while he slumbers. It would break his bony old heart, I make no doubt, but it must surely cause him to keep his room awhile, at least until his perruquier might be sent for and throw together a levre-toupee. I may be kind and only trim one half the moustaches …. 

Look for me in the next few days, therefore;I shall be at your dreary little Northernmost outpost of civilisation. I shall look horribly, due to spending a week on the road - at this time of year! the dust will be unconscionable! - and weeping inconsolably at the prospects before me. I dare say my nose will be as red as my eyes and my voice will be good for nothing but a croak. 

I gnash my teeth and picture the happy gleam of your cruel ones smiling.

Hetty

 

13\. Letter from HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles to Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

Dear Heart

You cannot conceive my relief at your news. The outpost is tolerable, in despite of your spite of it, but how much more comfortable it will be when I have a true friend such as yourself to share it with! 

I have been amusing myself, attempting to remould the Bjorgmann to a semblance of a gentleman - did I expect to achieve that noble end, I should deem my efforts a failure, but I foresaw that I should have to satisfy myself with a dubious facsimile, and so I am pleased with what I have done. He is a simple soul, easily dazzled with the idea that his homely dress might offend the princess - so although I thought I might have to cut his boots off him, once I had represented the ingratitude refusal would denote - and horrid consequences to all ice cutters of his oafish deputising that would follow - I denuded him of all, including his hat and even his pungent aroma of the stables, and he went through all as calmly as a lamb. It was as though he had agreed to his own execution and now was resigned to whatever happened. 

A morning with the tailor resulted in a vast improvement in outward show; he is at least equipped with shirts and waistcoats. His taste is quite Gothic. He insisted on using the cloth his crone of a mother - thankfully unavailable to advise - embroidered for his trousseau. (Hetty I do not believe my mother has embroidered me a trousseau. Do you imagine I can be wed without it?) I had my own barber to him, and really he looks quite - well as near as I can contrive - a Christian man.

After this had been duly accomplished, the next step was to stage a little show for the ladies - we obtained permission to train in the courtyard and asked that the ladies be warned that our want of shirts made it improper that they watch, ensuring an admiring audience from the upper windows. 

All fell out as I devised. Anna happened to see Bjorgmann with his shirt off, glowing with exercise, winning … all one could ask. - I contrived to catch the Queen’s eyes upon me with a flutter of confusion and bowed politely. Her blush was as delicate and reserved as all her quiet demonstrations of feeling; it was delicious. - Her sister, according to the testimony of her maid, was less well-bred, and fascinated by both the sight of men in a state of undress and the practice of fisticuffs itself. From the maid’s account, I fancy Anna would welcome training in this peculiarly unfeminine art; she was transfixed by the liveliness of the competition and most unwilling to give up her view thereof.

The man’s a brute - honestly, the men bred in the mountains here seem to be monumental in stature - but I exploited my native lightness of foot to good effect, and he did not land a flush hit on me, which is the only reason I still draw breath.

In the afternoon we ventured into the mountains behind the castle. The roads were dusty, the bilberries were ripe, the pines lofty and the sun shone on myriads of pointlessly elegant swallowtail butterflies. It was the very essence of bucolic bliss. Under my direction the Bjorgmann took Anna to wander the paths under the pines, gathering bilberries. He was instructed to impress her with his knowledge of the natural world and its inhabitants - which to do him justice, is extensive and not entirely tedious. His awkwardness of manner is much ameliorated by the true knowledge he can communicate, and he has good sense and a kind of manliness that Anna may have the good taste to appreciate; to assist me, let us hope in more ways than she should. I assisted him with a kerchief improved with ether, lovingly tied around my lady’s neck, and she certainly sounded as if she enjoyed something, though whether it were Bjorgmann’s company remains a mystery. While out of sight of the general party she giggled herself into a state of faintness, and they were lost among the woods for nearly half-an-hour. Being a sensible fellow, he removed the kerchief, and returned her no worse - indeed, a little flushed and sparkling with the adventure. Aside from a little case of the head-ache, she suffers no ill effects now. 

Alone with the Queen, I could make no shift to remove even so small an article of dress as a kerchief from her, and she remained disappointingly steadfast in her dress throughout. I made great social progress, however - chiefly by reassuring her. Bjorgmann made none at all with the princess. Thirty minutes, unchaperoned, and he shyly confessed to me to rubbing her hand when her dizziness obliged her to take a seat on a rock. He seemed to be in fear that some of her royalty might have rubbed off on him, and he would duly be sentenced for its theft. These people, Harriette - !

When the Princess could not be found, it was naturally to myself the Queen looked - her eyes were on me filled with distress, her little mouth aghast at all the perils of modern life her tiny tedious Anna might be suffering. I was gallant, I was brave, I was resourceful. I contrived to recover Anna. I spent much time in elaborate manoeuvres to ensure she was not found too soon, but soon enough for the episode to be discussed in hushed whispers, and myself the cynosure of all female eyes as I softened the indelicate truth that Anna had not been rendered at all fearful or distressed by the small adventure of being alone with a very large man for twenty minutes, though I fear some of the older ladies are still suffering a little with the vapours. 

These escapades give me more reason to be thankful for your arrival; perhaps you will be able to hammer the thought into her head that what my too-nearly-wife is experiencing is love. She trembles at the sight of him, she declares with blushes and impertinence what anybody of even a shade less ton would recognise as passion - but she has pitiably little idea. In fact, she clings to me the more; I conceive she is afraid of what she so little understands. 

The irony is, the little fool is - I feel sure - the very picture of a woman whose every disposition is shaped for pleasure. Unlike Elsa, who looks like she might give pleasure but could never receive any, and would give her all without the slightest discomposure, feeling mainly the comforts of virtue - the more discomfort she can wring from love, the better it will become her plans and character - Anna is demonstrative, playful, and intensely sensuous. She longs for what she flees. I look to you, my love, to disabuse her of her ridiculous illusions that she should not pursue them. I cannot honourably be rid of her else, and that must be accomplished before more may be.

And if I do not find the opportunity to take you again in my arms, you will have to have brought a considerable contingent of the militia with you, as there are not enough here to keep me from it.

My deepest love

H W


	5. The Infected World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heat continues as both players and sickness move about.

Letter 14.

12\. Letter to HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles from Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

Arendelle

As I suspected, your alleged pining has affected your health to a horrible extent - I scarce would have known you, with your brightened eye and the fresh enthusiasm of your spirits. The provinces plainly agree with you. And now - off within an hour of my advent! this is how to flatter a woman indeed!

Be easy; I do no more than trifle; I know and - unusually - I honour your reasons. Certainly the admiration of you so fashionable in the highest circles here suffers only enhancement at your absence. I believe your Steel Flower coloured a little when I remarked on her good fortune at having a friend so ideally designed to act for her in this - so calm, so capable, so willing to brave all hardships and risks. I hardly think Royalty can be wholly unused to such friends, howsoever the rest of humanity may be fixed for them, but thought it no harm to remind her of the service you render.

Myself, I am earning your lifelong debt of gratitude with my selfless services to your reputation. Firstly, I should tell you that I find your little Princess charming and intend all assistance to your plan to marry her to the oaf, more for her good than yours. She has qualities you are ill-equipped to appreciate. You may amuse yourself at her inexperience, but she is a kind-hearted girl, for all she has never wanted for a thing in her life. You may say that the one is the proper and inevitable result of the other, but Gustav has never wanted for a thing in his life, and has no more a kind bone in his body than a civil word in his mouth.

Further, she is delighted with me. She asked if I would sing - I demurred, citing the harshness of the dust of travel - she pressed me with the most delicate of hopes and sweetest reports of compliments - though readily understanding my reasons for delay, and wishing I will preserve my voice at all costs - most eager to wait my convenience for the salvation of my talent - but so polite in her disappointment - I permitted her persuasion, so kindly urged as it was - I sang - a very little, for my voice was truly strained. I played a little more - my hands don’t suffer the same way; she had near enough no breath to thank me. The music spoke so eloquently in my behalf and its beauty finds me possessed of all virtues. She makes no enquiry, forces no confidences - but took me into hers immediately. She arranged for us to practice together tomorrow - longs to learn the second part to the Schumann duet - determines that what she cannot sing at sight she will prepare by private study for our afternoon - if only I will spare her half-an-hour! (A half-an-hour - here - truly I could spare her half-a-day.) I have discovered her true passion, my Prince - it is the one shares with me and - alas! poor Hans! - it is assuredly not you, nor your ice harvester neither. Shall I be kind and console you - shall I say - I have heard - the Queen has still a little paper reminder by her to cool her cheek and keep you near? Shall I kindly say that she blushed anew and claimed hardly to remember where she had left it - essayed a laugh, claiming that she may have lost it - but that my maid has it on the best authority - so from her maid - that it enjoys a place of honour on her bureau, and that it is not lost at all.

And so farewell you vacillating scoundrel who lures and then decamps at first sight. 

I wish you will cure all and stay safely away until you are all certain you will bring no infection with you. Dearest - I have never pretended to be selfless. We both love me, and that is our unbreakable bond. 

Hetty 

 

15\. Letter from HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles to Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

Quarantine (!)  
_____bard

 

My Dearest, my Heart!

I excoriate the necessity of appearances that drags me from your side - to give me such a tantalising glimpse and to hurry me away as soon as that look has been exchanged - you are in very good looks, Hetty. I do not know that I might not have to quit my duties here and ride back to you post haste without thought for the consequences - except that that is not my character, and that I dare say your looks will only grow lovelier by the somewhat disagreeable appearance of those fevered souls who surround me. And I do not wish to return until this crisis is averted; the health of the people must always be paramount, or there is nothing worth ruling over.

I find the sick inconvenience me very little, but those who have fallen prey to no ills as yet express their concerns most pressingly and importune me almost too continually to allow me even this respite to write to you.

On my arrival I found the place in an uproar of disquietude - of agitation both at the prospect of visiting Royalty and of visiting epidemic. Neither of these reasons was acceptable to me, and so I put the able-bodied to work, making a calm of sensible exertion in this stormy sea of foolish botheration, and soon succeeded in spreading a general good sense among the people here, who are not impossible of cure, either in mind or body.

The situation of the place is fortuitous for health; like Arendelle it benefits from fresh sea air and a good supply of fresh spring water from the mountains. The aspect is bright and the houses, though situated on streets of sharp and immediate gradient, mainly clean and decent. Of course, there is a good quantity more of deplorable embroidery, but even I, Hetty, acknowledge that this is scarcely a happy moment to address issues of traditional ugliness.

The vaccinations are safely arrived, and some of the more astute of the locals have been despatched to recruit local cases of the Cow Pox, though strictly in the more secluded of the farms and outposts. They may prove unnecessary, for the quantity we have will suffice for all the Quality in attendance, as well as the main part of the population here; I have written to the Queen concerning the advisability of securing another batch for the capital.

I myself have shed my coat and cuffs, and am occupied in my shirt sleeves, if you please, administering the prophylactic by means of a sort of injection; I am become an official scratcher of arms and rubber of sickness into the scrapes thus made. I have exerted myself to treat the children firstly, and the Princess of Corona renders me every assistance. She is a tiny, eagerly friendly young woman of formidable intellectual powers, currently devoted to the successful despatch of this business. Her own twin daughters were innoculated immediately, and after two days of appearing sturdily displeased by some minor symptoms of Rash and the Sore Throat, and a manifestation of unstoppable attachment to their mother, they do very well; as fine a pair of cherubs as might be found anywhere in this continent, and certainly sterner despots than their mother may ever be.

Enclosed for your perusal a copy of part of my fiancee’s most recent missive, in which you will have the pleasure of distinguishing your own description: wherefore she includes details of her speech with Hr Bergmann I cannot distinguish, but it disgusts me to suppose that she must feel so little for him that she can write to me openly on the subject without the smallest push at concealment. What a vexatious creature this Princess! How am I ever to be safely rid of such perennial innocence? For God’s sake, Hetty, draw her on to listen some suitably salacious tales of the pleasure that guilt may procure her and the protection her rank will be, or I shall have to contrive her actual imprisonment with the oaf to compromise her ...

All that is right, and much that is probably not - I kiss your hands at least in spirit -

Hans

 

Letter 16   
HRH Anna Princess of Arendelle to HRH Hans, Prince of the Southern Isles (extract copied; enclosure with Letter 15; original lost)  
Arendelle

… I seem to have struck up an acquaintance who is already a friend of yours: the Countess of Hohenlohen. I cannot conceive how came you not to talk of her, for I have but barely encountered her, and I can scarce talk on any other topic. She is the most fascinating personage! Witty, of course, and beautiful; but her true talent! When she sang I felt so profoundly blessed - so moved by the beauty of her voice and the loveliness of how she was singing - oh it is difficult to explain how deeply spiritual I think her singing. It was truly how I imagine paradise might show itself to us on earth - a glimpse of the divine in human nature. I was in fact trembling when the last notes faded to silence - and I was not alone in my sensations, for Elsa’s eyes were sparkling when she went and thanked her for indulging us, and begged her to consider the castle and all it has to offer at her disposal as some poor recompense for the beauty she had shared with us. And the Countess laughed in the most gentle, natural, effervescent way when she said that she must be so greatly the gainer in such an arrangement unless she sang us an Oratorio every day, and Elsa laughed too, and shook her hand. And you know how Elsa never shakes hands…

I doubt she will sing an Oratorio for us - Elsa has already begun to fret about the effects of the heat on the Countess’s voice, and has ordered up a case of Amontillado to treat it. I will not require an oratorio in any case, for I have prevailed on her for something far better; she permits me to intrude on her practice tomorrow! You may imagine my feelings - indeed I shall have to cut short my letter, so I may practice a little - perhaps I may forgive you, for never mentioning her. For if you had I am certain I would have been mad to hear her, and that would have been an exquisite torture - and if I had heard her first, I should certainly have wished to keep her to myself. I feel the beauty of a soul which can reach out with such celestial grace to be irresistible. I cannot imagine how anyone who has heard that voice could ever fall in love with another - but love experienced feeds love offered, they say.

The Ice Harvesters continue to draw up alternatives for the winter months; after some disagreement Hr Borgmann has put forward a sensible plan to open up timber cutting and trading for half the year. It really is most uninteresting, but of course, the sooner they can put something to mending, the better for the children they most improvidently seem to have provided themselves with. Some of the children are very sweet, but they are mostly noisy with noses that furnish the most abundant candle-like excrescences of snot. I have given away a great quantity of fine linen handkerchiefs, but they say they are too fine to clean their noses with, and tie them over their heads and then we are all back at the beginning - yellow tubes extruding from their nostrils and soon after encrusting their sleeves like so much golden embroidery. I do not consider it healthy, and I am put about to ensure they are cleaned.

Hurry back, dearest; I am sure you will be able to manage everything so capably that I shall not be made to miss your company even another week … Elsa sends all that is proper, and and has also sent for some more of the Vaccination for Arendelle; so you see you must hurry back, for you can hardly suppose Elsa will be able to scratch people and rub cow pox juice into the open wounds … 

 

17.  
Letter from HM Queen Elsa of Arendelle to HRH Princess Rapunzel of Corona 

Arendelle

My Dearest Cousin

My spirits are greatly relieved by word that has reached me that you are safe, and that the twins are successfully saved from this fearsome infection. Oh, please hurry to be here! Your advices are always so excellent, and I long for your calm and your good sense, as well as to meet the twins. 

Anna continues in excellent spirits; I had supposed her likely to be a little saddened by the want of her beau, but she sees clearly the pointing of duty, and is so well pleased with herself at recognising it and resigning Hans to its demands, that there is no fault to find with her at all. Her generosity is all awake to the plights of the sufferers and i believe she felt more fire to help them than to be with Hans, when she was imploring me hourly to let her accompany him. Shall I confess I am proud of her in this? More - I beg you will not judge me too harshly - I am heart-glad she is not so dependant on him for her whole happiness that she is hipped by his absence.

For Anna has more than one source of consolation and company; first she continues her efforts with the ice workers. After the Prince had somewhat refined their spokesman, he seemed awhile muted in his views, but when Anna put forward a logging scheme in Sami territory he found his tongue with some celerity, and their lively discussion ended only when she ceded to his greater knowledge of the terrain, and also discovered he has stabled his reindeer here. Anna has not previously encountered one - well, I had not either - and of course every aspect of its appearance is a fresh delight: “the large, wise eyes, the delicacy of his hooves, the elegance of form nature delineates in his antlers” - and the intelligence of his discourse. You suppose I exaggerate, possibly even jest; not a scrap; the Sami holds entire conversations with the beast, including provision of a comical voice for it - and according to Anna, invests it with a sly sense of humour, even at his own expense. 

Hr Bergmann was mortified by Anna’s discovery of this peculiarity, which he should not have been at all; she is twice over delighted and likes him four times as much as before for possession of the beast and around ten times as much for his amusing ventriloquy.

When not cultivating stable company (I should stop her, I suppose, but - I would not, were we boys, coz. And we may not be boys, but yet we must needs be Princes, so - I will not stop her. These dangers are safe enough.) she has made another most colourful friendship. The lady in question is a widow long famed for her virtue and her charm as well as her talent - the Countess Hohenlohen - but has recently had all the ill-fortune of connection to the Duke of Weselton cemented to her reputation, since he has acknowledged her as his natural daughter. How must all her peace be cut up! This must serve his purposes much better than hers, for the news which reached even myself has quite overshadowed her former fame for her own achievements as a musician. Having been privileged to hear her, I think her name was earnt with real devotion to her talent, for hers is no mean accomplishment…. I have not communicated this gossip to Anna; let her have her own name that far at least! - though I surmise the Countess may yet take my sister into her confidence, for they are of a similar stamp as to how neither bears their griefs without expression. I believe I heard the Countess actually grind her teeth when the Duke made reference to a “close, almost familial bond” in her hearing. The Duke may whistle for any closeness now; Anna has heard her sing - has her permission to join and listen with her in rehearsal - is working with renewed industry on her Schumann duets - in brief, has suffered a coup de foudre on hearing her siren song, and leaves her to herself as little as manners will allow.

It is the most joy I have until I see you, cousin, to see Anna so happy. I pray shortly to add that happiness to this, to welcome you and your family here - your letters encourage me.

I add all that is hopeful and beg you will inform me if there is any service Arendelle may render you, that may speed you to our side.

Your Cousin

Elsa


	6. A Surfeit of the Sweetest Things

18\. Court Circular of Arendelle, Saturday to Monday - August 184-

Her Royal Majesty Queen Elsa and Her Royal Highness Princess Anna of Arendelle will attend morning service at Blessed Heart at 11am on Sunday. 

The formal reception of His Royal Highness Prince Hans of the Southern Isles escorting their Royal Highnesses Princess Rapunzel, and her daughter, the Princess Agnetha will take place at noon. 

Eugene, Duke of ---- and Prince Consort to HRH Rapunzel of Corona, and their son, Prince Konrad continue their stay at -----bard, completing the works for public health.

Her Royal Highness Princess Anna and the Honourable Harriette von Hohenlohe, Countess of ----- present a private concert at the palace with Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Princesses of Corona in attendance.

 

19\. Letter to Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of -------- from HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles

\-----bard

 

Sweetest of all Assistants

I arrive without fanfare in a bare few hours - this I have sent ahead expressly with the hope that you will contrive for me to return to my most thorough rejection. 

Is this too soon for the engineering of a passionate exposure of the lovers? I must suppose it to be. Hetty if she cannot be persuaded into such an indiscretion at eighteen, consider how barren and tedious my prospective nights! For the love of all that’s holy, I beg you bend all your considerable wiles in this matter. I feel that I would prefer to take this infernal fever than another twenty years of her lively discourse. 

All my love - my thankful heart at your feet ---

Hans

 

20.  
Letter to HRH Hans Westergard, Prince of the Southern Isles from Harriette von HohenLohe, Countess of --------

My Dear Good Boy

You are as entitled as the next libertine to deflower and defrock as you may; but in the case of the little Princess, you may not. She is under my protection. You may do as you wish, but I shall not assist you in her ruin, only her rescue from you. I repeat, that I do not at all agree that these need to come to the same thing - you need only possess your soul in patience for the barest few more days - ten at most - all will be resolved by then, I do not doubt.

It is not expedient for you to ruin her; have sense. Princesses are not toys, for all you wish to make her your pawn. She is a sweet thing and there are easier ways to end this engagement; allow her the chance to decide it for herself, for I believe she is less your creature than you imagine. She is too young to realise what we both know; she is no match for you, and would be most ill served for ever attempting it; but she grows in wisdom - under my most discreet instruction - every day. Rest your connivery for another week; she will finish with you with all the decisiveness you wish, and the matter will be laid to rest without any of the blasting of her prospects that you appear to wish her. 

You have often assured me that my word with you has the weight of law; here is your chance to show it. I beg you will reconsider this rash course of action; her ruin will do nobody any good, when the end of your mutual connection can be so much more advantageously contrived. She is a sweet girl. Do not demand this of me.

I remain your friend; as you trust my wisdom, accept my counsel. 

Yours 

Hetty

 

21.  
Letter - Letter from HM Queen Elsa of Arendelle to HM King Frederik of the Kingdom of the Southern Isles

Arendelle

Dear Cousin

Let me be swift to dispel the anxiety you will feel if you have heard any news of your brother who sojourns with us here; our doctors have diagnosed a kind of collapse pursuant on the fatigue of his heroic labours for our innoculations, but he has no signs of having taken the fever, so please be as easy as you can.

I assure you he is the centre of our every care and solicitude; he has the best nurses and every attention is paid him. 

I myself am in constant attendance on him, and undertake to send you all information were there to be any change in his condition, for well or ill.

Your anxiety must be very great, but be sure it is no more than our own.

Yours etc

Elsa, HRH etc.

 

22\. HRH Rapunzel, Crown Princess of Corona to HRH Eugene, the Prince Consort.

Arendelle 

Dearest

I trust you are well, and Kon is feeling less out of sorts. I hope I am not a harsh mother, but I do suspect his indisposition was due to the unholy surfeit of bilberry tarts and creme Anglaise, exacerbated by the hope of staying alone with you at the inn. He knows full well that he will allowed at all hours in the stables, and you will probably be forced to put him on bread and water before he permits his removal here. I cannot spare either of you longer than Thursday, so if he is still obstinately clutching his stomach and skulking in there by Wednesday he must be bundled up in the carriage and transported willy-nilly, shouting his outrage from the window every mile between there and here; it will be undignified for a Royal; I care not. There are some magnificent Fjord horses and actually a reindeer in the Arendellian stables, which I dare say may work some miraculous cure on his bellyache, provided there are no more tarts.

Neska has launched an irresistible charm offensive; the Queen, the Princess and the Countess vie for her favours, so you may imagine what a little despot she will be if you delay your arrival any more than four days.

Our arrival here has caused some agitation; I send this by express and secret messenger and hope he meets with no accident or interruption in his travels; I must have your ear, however, and in due course your advice.

To begin with, Elsa is in a state of discomfiture I have never previously seen. She has long been prone to sequester herself, against the demands of her royal role, and to be too much alone in her private hours, but I have always found her a gentle soul, quiet and fixed in her determinations, as though her knowledge of what is right was an infallible guide. Something is amiss; she has been somehow thrown off her path, and she seems uncertain as to her next steps.

This has happened in spite of my efforts to conceal and soften the events that followed our advent and protect her from the most excessive of their turns. 

On our first arrival, all proceeded well; Anna and the famous Hohenlohe gave a delightful concert to welcome us. Anna is charming and as accomplished as any Princess will ever need; the Countess, of course, is wholly of a different degree. Hers is a talent rarely met with, showing all the elevation of many years devoted to its perfection. Her voice is of great beauty, and her training must have put her to many years of determined pursuit. Although her voice has power, that is not her chief appeal; she has the ability to move her listener deeply. Her capacity is to cause her listener to feel all their own soul expressed; to think that they are understood by her ability to evoke all their deep griefs and hopes and tremulous happiness. This goes some way to explain both her reputation and the rapturous devotion that she has inspired in both Elsa and Anna - though to different degrees, as will shortly appear. 

In person, too, she is pleasing; a pretty, direct, energetic woman with a well-informed mind and a lively wit to match. There is no fault to find.

Later that day however, you will have heard that Prince Hans has fallen ill; it is not the fever, so do not distress yourself. It is because the engagement between himself and the Princess has been dissolved, and he is distraught. He has taken to his bed, and has permitted himself to be seen only by the Queen herself. It seems inconceivable that a man so active, so decisive and with such energy should be overturned by a disappointment in love, but so it appears. He is by no means the insensible character that his decisive and capable nature would lead one to expect. Elsa left his chamber shaken to the core, and I can only speculate what his condition must have been to leave her thus.

Little she knows that if she knew all, her state - and I suppose his - would be infinitely more shaken; I am telling this story all out of order and no doubt provoking you; in order then, let me explain what happened to bring this about.

I went to bid Anna good night in her rooms a while after the concert, and found her - beyond compromised, Eugene, and with nobody one would ever suspect, for she was locked in a state of almost spiritual, almost animal bliss with the Countess of Hohenlohe. They were upon a couch, passionately engaged, and had I mistaken the scene, it would have made no longer difference than a minute or two, for they denied it not at all, and thought no ill of what they did. 

I compelled a solitary meeting instantly with the Countess, to enjoin her to put a halt to this connection but was repulsed; not by any turpitude of her morals, but by her genuine feeling. From all I can see, she will not brook being separated from the Princess because her attachment, which is all generous, disinterested and sincere, is too strong. She spoke with great dignity: 

“I am nothing to you; you have no knowledge of me and if you did, perhaps it would not recommend me to you; I know nothing of what you value, after all. But I have found a true companion in the Princess, one who is intrepid in her kindness and whole hearted in her feelings, and I reciprocate them.”

I remonstrated that the Princess was full young to know her own mind, her own feelings, that many would perceive something vicious in their connection, between a woman of the world, fully seven years older than a naive young girl; that people would believe her to be the architect of a relation which might ruin - and would surely exploit - the younger party. 

“I know that open acknowledgement of the bond we share would ruin both of us, but it is not less true and deep for that. Should Anna seek an equality in rank in her connections, she has very few choices, and all other considerations - of moral character, as well as of beauty or intellect or talents - would have to be put aside. In fact, the very clandestine nature of our relations will surely mean that I, of all her possible - friends, have the very least to gain. I cannot expect to be publicly acknowledged, even as the object of her affection, still less as her lord and master or her Royal equal. I cannot affect the succession, so surely I am exempt from suspicion on that score.”

“People might suppose you to be in pursuit of money,” I pointed out.

“People might suppose all sorts of foolish things,” she replied, “they generally do, which is why I like them to know as little of my business as possible… but in fact I have no need to pursue money. I like it well enough; enough of my girlhood was lived under the shadow of impecuniosity for me to prefer wealth to poverty; but I have sources of income which suffice me, and I have a musical ability which must always enable me to make some shift for myself. In all events, I dare say that if I were in pursuit of money I would be able to extort a handsome sum from you, or from the Queen, and be away as soon as I wish. I have no wish for it. My sole interest is in the enjoyment of the happiness I have blundered into with the Princess. Do as you will; but I will exert all my resources to preserve my happiness.” 

She did not raise her voice, or emphasise her meaning with any more gesture than a steady voice, and an equally steady look; but I could have no doubt of her sincerity. Her feelings are true, I believe, and her force of character formidable. 

I retired from this fray, and broached the topic with Anna, but with scarcely more success. She is too virtuous to see anything but virtue, and she too, seems attached with sincerity - truly, Eugene, it would seem with honour - to the Countess. “She makes my heart light up, Rapunzel. She makes me feel all joy throughout my time with her, and difficulties all infinitely surmountable. Truly, she has taught me to understand 6:8 time, and she can even make the economics of the ice harvesters almost interesting - I do not wish at all to sever our connection.” I attempted to represent the evils of an entanglement with a woman - the condemnation of their intimacy that public knowledge would assuredly bring; this did give her pause. 

“It is - wrong?” she puzzled. “Why is it wrong?” 

“It is the love that is between a husband and wife, Anna; the physical intimacy with which you and she have - enjoyed each other - ” 

“O - oh!” she cried. “Is that what enjoyed means?” One could see the thoughts run through her head. “But it is absurd to forbid it because it is reserved for husband and wife. We are not a man and a woman, so it is not the same. I can understand it is wrong to be so with a man outside the bounds of marriage, but we can never be married, so it is not alike at all. It is absurd to forbid it.”

“You would be publicly censured - horribly so - if the world were to find out,” I reiterated, keeping to what I was sure of; for I followed Anna’s argument at every point, but foresaw little good from it for mine. She looked very grave. She pondered for a moment and then took my hands.

“I am in these hands, then, cousin. You have the knowledge which could undo me, and I could not undo my past misdeeds if I would. I must depend on your generosity to preserve my character.”

“Do not say this as if I would ever reveal your affairs merely to be the subject of cruel gossip, Anna! I hope you think better of me than that! I will never reveal it, where it is dangerous to do so.”

“Will you tell Elsa?”

“Should not you tell her?”

Again she paused.

“I had not thought it a matter of any moment until now,” she sighed. “It did not seem necessary to tell her. Is it necessary? Prince Hans - she was overset by our engagement - if this would be more - of a shock to her - I implore you to keep it from her. Her health has been so indifferent, Rapunzel. I hardly saw her for - years. She is not robust, and - you cannot know what my life has been, living in the shadow of her absence, always fearing that she would succumb to some fever or disease, constantly concerned that she is - she does not exert herself to be well, Rapunzel; she fears people and she keeps her room, still, far more than is good for her health. I have been lonely; I cannot imagine what fears and shadows haunt her. I implore you not to allow my indiscretion to bring more anxiety to her.” I saw my chance and seized it. 

“Very well, but you must discontinue the Countess’s company.”

“I have no other friends! Must I send away the only one I have?”

“I am your friend, and so is Prince Hans.”

“He is not. He seemed so fine and caring, but he is become as top-lofty and fogey-ish as any of the other dullards who trail about the court. I would happily break it off with him tomorrow.”

“Do not wait, then. Do it today. You will not be able to conceal a connection of this kind from a husband as you can from the court at large. The scandal will be that much greater if it impacts on another great family.”

“Or perhaps it will be that much more assiduously concealed,” she remarked, showing a streak of sudden cynicism - “but if my relations with the Countess would be regarded as marital, I must in honour break it off with Hans, although my true reasons must be kept away from the eyes of the curious.” She smiled a sad little smile. “So Elsa will have been proved quite correct and I suppose she will be a little happier, for she did not trust my feelings for Hans… I will go at once, cousin.”

I kissed her and commended her despatch and her integrity; and with what swiftness she put herself about it, you will judge when I tell you that I write at 1am, and the Queen left Prince Hans perhaps an hour and a half since. 

But I am myself confused by all this, Eugene; why should Anna not be happy with her friend? Were she a prince, the Countess would be quietly accepted as a maitresse en titre; no more would be necessary. I know the desperation of loneliness, as you do; why should a friendship - even if it oversteps what is usual - be a cause for her to lose her reputation and her chances? She should not have to make such a sacrifice, and although I feel ashamed of my part in concealing her truth, I also feel that to be honest in this case would make more mischief than it could ever solve. 

Write soon with your best advices; or still better, join me here - sooner than Thursday. I long for our happy family circle already after less than a day! Eugene, how lucky was I that you found me! How fortunate - how astonishingly fortunate - that we loved with such simplicity and that propriety was so easy for us! I kiss you over and over and demand you pass on my kisses to the Boy also. 

All my love 

Rapunzel 

 

NO MORE BILBERRY TARTS. R.


End file.
